Mom Wakes to Find Infant Missing During Horrifying Hospital Visit

Taking a sick child to the hospital is stressful enough without any additional issues arising. For one mom, an already-frightening situation was made that much more traumatic when, she says, hospital staff took her infant away while she slept and gave her to another patient. Lory Beth Snyder of Arkansas recounted the terrifying ordeal on Facebook, describing how nurses and a woman she'd never met before told her to "get some rest" after she found them laughing and playing with her infant daughter, Lorelai, without her knowledge or consent. Mind-boggling, right?

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We could see if the nurses were comforting the baby in the room where this mom slept, but to physically remove her and bring her to another patient to "play" with is just unthinkable. We can only imagine the sheer terror Snyder must have experienced when she awoke to find her baby missing.

No one should ever be put through such a terrifying ordeal. Any parent would be scarred for a long time after this incident -- not to mention extremely mistrustful of many in the health-care community. Snyder expresses the shock and disbelief any mom would feel in the same situation, writing:

While I honestly don't know if Ms Harris intentions were intend noble, since she claims to of just been trying to care for Lorelai. I don't know what she herself was ill with, something that could make my daughter sick. I don't know anything! I don't know what her actual intent with my child was. What she did with her. Or even how long she actually had her.

It's absolutely galling that the nurses reportedly acted as if they'd done nothing wrong. Even if they had the best intentions of letting this mom get a little shut-eye, anyone with an ounce of common sense would recognize how horrifying it would be to wake up to find your baby missing.

Equally upsetting is that police also didn't seem to be able to do anything as, in the eyes of the law, no crime had been committed. Snyder explains:

Jonesboro PD stated that no crime was committed because Harris didn't 'intend' to rape or molest my child.

Apparently anyone can take any child any where, and its not kidnapping as long as you don't intend to harm the child. So says the law according to the Jonesboro PD.

The good news is that Lorelai is fine (she was suffering from a milk allergy). But, still, our hearts go out to this mom who never should've been treated this way. She'll probably be attempting to sleep with one eye open for a very long time.

We hope this staff recognizes the undo stress they put this woman through. Even if their intentions were only the best, that's never an excuse to take or even touch someone else's child without that parent's permission.